Welcome to the Fishing Report. The sun is barely peeking over the mountains this morning. Townsend is very quiet. It is 7:00 am. I stopped and talked to Pat, the town’s Mayor this morning after I took the water temperature at the swinging bridge. We discussed the planning commission meeting held last night. There is a lot to do to preserve this town and protect it from greed. I don’t know, it’s an ongoing battle. I hope we win.

I’m meeting Jack at the Troutfest site in a few minutes to unload my truck. Volunteers will be there to start setting up for the banquet tonight and exposition this weekend. We are expecting this to be our busiest weekend at the store all year. It was by far the busiest weekend last year.

Little River is looking low but it’s really not. It is just lower than I’m used to seeing. Flow is currently 205 cubic feet per second (cfs). Median flow for this date is 229 cfs. The water temperature is 62 degrees. We have a chance for rain today and for the next few days. A cold front will move in Monday and bring cool and wet air into the area. Fishing is excellent, especially during the last few hours of the day. You can catch trout all day but the hatches are heavier late. You will see a lot of different aquatic insects, mayflies, caddis and stoneflies. I would use a #16 Yellow Sally or larger Light Cahill for a dry fly. Most of the usual nymphs should work. They are Tellico, Copper John, Hares Ear, Bead Head Pheasant Tail, and Prince Nymph.

Troutfest starts tonight with the banquet. We should have about 300 people attend, the same number as last year. There are some tickets left but I don’t know how many. Joe Humphreys is flying in this morning. Lefty Kreh and Bob Clouser will arrive this afternoon. Vendors will set up this afternoon. The national companies will set up in their tent tomorrow at 7:30 am. Everyone will be ready by 9:00 tomorrow morning. Volunteers will be setting up the banquet tent, which is huge. When I left the site last night at 10:00 the tent rental company had a lot of work left to do. Jack and I started setting up tables this morning. It has been a big job.

I know a lot of you will be here this weekend. We all hope you have a great time. I know you will.